"MAORI AS A WARRIOR"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21911, 21 September 1934, Page 13

"MAORI AS A WARRIOR"

LOVE OF FIGHTING INBORN SOME QUAINT SUPERSTITIONS "The Maori as a Warrior" formed the subject of an address given by Miss O. Adams before the anthropology and Maori race section of the Auckland Institute and Museum on Wednesday night. The Maori loved fighting and everything connected with it, said Miss Adams. From early childhood the spirit of fighting was inculcated into him, and in one way it proved an outlet for his extraordinary vitality. Fighting to the Maori proved his manhood and carried on the mana of his ancestors. More than that, proficiency in weapons was a necessity for tribal protection. It was not merely the lovo of slaughter that incited him to fight; it was mainly because it was a means of trying and proving his prowess. In speaking of the superstition of the Maori, Miss Adams referred to the power exercised by the tohunga, who resembled the Roman priest of old. In the beginning he might watch a sleeper; a twitch of the right toe would mean victory, a twitch of the left disaster. A blow-fly on the of the road„ was a sign of defeat, as also was a bird sitting on the left-hand 6ide. A shooting star travelling toward the enemy's country was favourable, but it was a devastating portent if directed toward their own. An eclipse of the moon denoted victory, but to whom? Nor was it certain what happened when both sides believed in the samo happenings.